PHYS 280 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Research Paper Assignment Sequence

The ultimate goal of this analytical research paper is not simply to summarize what others have written about your topic, but to provide an independent and original statement that asks and answers a research question that follows from your topic (chosen from the approved topics list) and, in doing so, engages selectively and critically with what others have written about it. That is, your ultimate goal is to contribute your own informed expertise to a formal, collegial conversation taking place in a public forum, the Illini Journal of International Security (IJOIS). 

Overview

This 5–6 page research paper's primary purpose is to establish the nature and importance of a problem in global security from both a technical and policy perspective. Its secondary purpose is to provide a recommendation on what the global community (or particular actors within that community) should do about the issue.  

Thesis and Body: An analytical research paper offers “a critical interpretation of primary and secondary sources throughout the paper—sources that should, ultimately, support your “particular analysis of the topic” (Purdue OWL). Analysis “breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience” (Purdue OWL).

Conclusion: Persuasion “makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided” (Purdue OWL/claims and also Purdue OWL/organization; emphasis removed).

You will write the article for (hypothetical) submission to the Illini Journal of International Security (IJOIS)—a student-led and peer-reviewed academic journal supported by the University of Illinois Program in Arms Control & Domestic and International Security (ACDIS)—from the adopted perspective of either a political scientist (policy analyst) or engineer (technical expert) in collaboration with a secondary author (a classmate/colleague) who has adopted the other expert role. 

Although your colleague will contribute to the development of your article (its thought work and perhaps some of its language), you are solely responsible for researching and writing up the article and for the balance and accuracy of political science and engineering perspectives. You will receive an independent grade on your proposal for the research paper, as well as for its initial and final drafts. You will also receive an independent grade on your collegial response to a peer’s research paper proposal.

You will complete five assignments in the research paper assignment sequence. 

RPPv1, 2 pages, no writer’s memo: For the first assignment, you will (1) choose your expert role (either political scientist or engineer) and select your topic, (2) develop material to use in drafting your research paper, (3) and write a research proposal. Important: You will be asked to iterate your research proposal draft until the instructional staff believe it could result in a viable project. 

RPPv2, 2 pages, writer’s memo: In this next step, you will revise and expand your approved research proposal to incorporate instructor and peer feedback, refine your thinking and expression, and add new research resources you have found. 

RPCR, 2 pages, no writer’s memo, peer review: In the third assignment, you will continue to practice taking the perspective of the expert role you have adopted and applying that expertise to help a colleague develop his or her understanding of his or her chosen topic, much as experts in different fields contribute to one another’s work in actual practice.

RPv1, 5–6 pages (body only; the cover page with abstract, references cited, and tables and figures are not included in the minimum page requirement), writer’s memo: For the fourth assignment, you will produce a draft of a 5–6 page research paper that analyzes and explains at length a course subject-related problem in global security from both political science and engineering perspectives and concludes briefly with a suggestion or suggestions for solutions to that problem. You may emphasize the perspective of the political scientist or engineer that you’ve adopted for the project, but you must include both perspectives in your discussion. (Note: The abstract, located on the cover page, is limited to around 125 words.)

Your research paper should emulate the concerns, style, and substance of the articles published in the Illini Journal of International Security. 

RPv2 (length: see RPv1), revised: writer’s memo: For the fifth and final assignment, you will revise your research paper draft based on guided self-reflection and feedback from the instructional staff. 

Learning Objectives

As with all written assignments for the course, the research paper assignment sequence is designed to help you to (1) learn about the interdisciplinary area of study of nuclear weapons and arms control and (2) improve your technical writing skills—whether your future profession is in academia or industry or whether you are writing for work or as a citizen of the world. 

1. Learn about the discipline: For the research paper assignment sequence, you will focus on developing a specialized understanding of a topic within the field we’ve studied this semester and then analyzing and explaining to IJOIS readers the particular interest and importance of this topic, given their shared concerns about global security.
2. Improve your skills in writing: In this assignment sequence, you will continue to practice crafting professional-quality prose, presented in a publication-ready format, which effectively communicates concepts precisely and accurately during analysis, explanation, and argument about important issues within the interdisciplinary field of global security. 

You will also be asked to practice:

• framing a research question based on a selected topic in global security; 
• researching material for an article written for a mixed audience interested in and generally informed about global security (i.e., the readers of the Illini Journal of International Security);
• collaborating with a colleague whose area of expertise differs from your own to adapt his or her insights into your perspective; 
• collaborating with a colleague whose area of expertise differs from your own to provide your insights into his or her perspective;
• answering a research question with a focused thesis, and outlining an analysis and argument to develop and support your answer;
• writing analysis and argument in answer to a research question that effectively and directly responds to expert conversation about that topic (i.e., incorporates research), while, at the same time, developing an independent point of view and making an interesting, original statement;
• demonstrating competence in citing research properly and, above all, avoiding plagiarism. See the Purdue Online Writing Lab for safe practices that can help you to avoid plagiarism and the University of Illinois Undergraduate Library’s Guide to Plagiarism. 

Tips on Integrating Research

Model Paper Demonstrating Research Integration (Veteran TA Maxx Villotti's RPv2) -- see the accompanying abstract

Integrating Research Sources into Your Writing (Slideshow by Kelly Searsmith)

Continuing Education

Since IJOIS requires that (actually) submitted papers be a 2000–7000 words in length (not counting references, etc.), we invite writers with serious interest in publishing their work to request permission to write an IJOIS-ready submission that meets this page-length requirement. Even if you do not choose to exercise this option during the semester, we encourage you to consider extending your work and submitting it to IJOIS.  

Students are also encouraged to submit to the IJOIS blog on an ongoing basis. Getting published is a good way to share your work with others and to build academic and professional credentials.